Diane Modahl

Modahl is a non-executive board member at NHS Manchester, and was the chief ambassador for StreetGames, a charity for inner-city children between 2008 and 2013. She is also the CEO of the Diane Modahl Sports Foundation, a registered charity founded by her in 2010. DMSF brings athletics coaching opportunities to young people, particularly those living in disadvantaged areas.

She took part in the third series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in 2004.

To mark the 17th Commonwealth Games taking place in Manchester in 2002, the Greater Manchester Universities (Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Manchester, Salford University and UMIST) conferred joint honorary degrees of Doctor of Letters on Modahl, Roger Bannister, Clive Lloyd CBE, the Rt Hon Donald McKinnon and Dr Mamphela Ramphele for their great contributions to the Commonwealth.

Modahl subsequently spent six years pursuing the British Athletics Federation for £450,000 in damages. The High Court ruled against her in 2000, on the basis that no contract existed between her and the BAF. Ultimately, the cost financially ruined Modahl and contributed to the financial collapse of the BAF in 1998, which was replaced by UK Athletics.

The case was heard in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the House of Lords in London, and the panels included prominent judges such as Lord Irvine and Lord Woolf. All three courts stated in their summaries that Modahl "had never used any drugs and should be seen as being innocent of all charges for all future". The court process involved six hearings from 1996 to December 2000.

Modahl returned to competition in 1996 and finished second behind Kelly Holmes in the 800 metres at the British Olympic trials in June, running 1:59.87. At the Atlanta Olympic Games in August, she pulled a hamstring in her heat, 50m from the finish. In 1998, she won her sixth AAAs 800m title, before going on to win the 800m bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in the world class time of 1:58.81. She competed at her fourth Olympic Games in Sydney 2000, where she was eliminated in the heats running 2:02.41. She retired in 2002 but returned several years later and represented England and won a bronze medal in the 800 metres event, at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In July 1995 Professor Simon Gaskell at UMIST in Manchester completed a six-month study on bacterial degradation in urine samples. The study looked at three athletes: Modahl, a tennis player and a jogger. All gave a urine sample when the pH level was 5, and half the sample was frozen, while the other half was stored for three days at the same temperature as the room in Lisbon where Modahl's original sample was stored (as part of the study the weather details were collected from the meteorological institute in Lisbon to recreate the conditions). The urine samples stored in elevated temperatures all measured pH 9 and all three samples showed a false positive reading for testosterone versus epi-testosterone. This evidence supported Modahl's claim of innocence and she won the appeal.

The British Athletics Federation lifted Modahl's ban on 25 July 1995 when they lost the appeal hearing in London. On 25 March 1996 the IAAF congress in South Africa also accepted the evidence and cleared Modahl of the charges. The IAAF general secretary István Gyulai said, "We can no longer trust that the laboratories get it right; we have to test the testers more often."

Modahl and her husband Vicente wrote a book about their experiences, The Diane Modahl Story - Going the Distance, published in 1995. A second updated edition was released in 1996 after Modahl won her case.

In 1994, after a competition in Lisbon, her urine sample mimicked a positive reading for the performance-enhancing drug testosterone. Falsely accused of a doping offence, she professed her innocence and was later fully exonerated following an appeal. She returned to competition in 1996, and won a bronze medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Her career best 800 m time of 1:58.65 in 1990, ranks her seventh on the UK all-time list.

In 1993, now competing as Diane Modahl, she had perhaps the best season of her career, consistently running below two minutes for 800m. Her seasons best was 1:59.00. At the 1993 World Championships, she ran 1:59.12 in the semifinals to qualify for the final. In the final, won by Maria Mutola, she finished fourth in 1:59.42. Modahl was ranked in the top ten of the Track & Field News 800m world merit rankings for the second time in 1993, again at number seven. In 1994, she won her fifth AAAs 800m title and won the 800m at the European Cup in Gateshead, edging out Patricia Djate of France. However at that years European Championships in Helsinki, she was eliminated in the semifinals, running 2:02.18.

In January 1990, Edwards won the gold medal in the 800m at the Commonwealth Games, winning in 2:00.25. On 14 July 1990 she broke the English record in the 800m with 1:58.65 in Oslo, a time that would remain the best of her career. The previous record was 1:58.98 by Shireen Bailey in 1987, the UK record being held by the Scottish born Welsh athlete Kirsty Wade (1:57.42). In August, Edwards reached the final at the 1990 European Championships, finishing eighth. After struggling with injury, she won her third AAAs 800m title in 1992, to earn selection for the Barcelona Olympics, where she reached the semifinals.

In 1987, Edwards won the UK Championship 800m title and retained her AAAs 800m title to earn selection for the 1987 World Championships, where she reached the semifinals and ran a personal best of 1:59.34. In 1988, she earned selection for the Seoul Olympic Games, where she ran 1:59.66 in the semifinals, qualifying for the final. In the final, she finished eighth in 2:00.77. She had one of the best seasons of her career in 1989, including running 2:00.83 to finish third in the 800m at the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Monaco, behind Ana Quirot and Christine Wachtel. She was ranked number seven on the 1989 Track & Field News world merit rankings at 800m.

Born Diane Edwards in Manchester, to Jamaican parents, she won the 1984 English Schools 800 metres title in 2:05.7. She emerged as one of Britain's top 800m runners as a 20-year-old in 1986, winning the AAA Championships title ahead of Lorraine Baker. She went on to win a silver medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 2:01.12, finishing second to Kirsty Wade. A month later at the 1986 European Championships, she reached the semi-finals of the 800m, where she was eliminated in 2:00.84.

Diane Dolores Modahl (née Edwards, born 17 June 1966) is an English former middle distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. She won the 800 m title at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Her other notable results at 800 m include finishing second at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, third at the 1989 IAAF Grand Prix Final, fourth at the 1993 World Championships, and winning the European Cup in 1994. She also won six AAAs National 800 m titles and represented Great Britain at four Olympic Games (1988–2000), reaching the 800 m final in 1988.